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I Was a Journal-Topic Junkie

By Anna Collins Trest from The Quarterly, Fall 1999

Article Summary by Becky Frisbie

After Anna completed her Writing Institute, she realized that her cute story starters were not working for her students. She was getting mediocre results at best and sometimes no results at all. She used to blame it on her student’s laziness or apathy. She began to reexamine what reflective writing could be for her students. She decided to try having them look at their actual reflections in a mirror and asked them what they thought about while looking at themselves. She then categorized each of their responses into the following: pretending/imagining, examining/observing, forming opinions, questioning, describing, remembering, comparing, and expressing emotions. They talked about each of the categories and had students give examples of each. She had them look in the mirror again and write about what came to mind. On the following days they continued to reflect aloud on everyday objects like a stapler and a toothbrush. They would brainstorm thoughts together as a class and then write down their own thoughts about the object. Her classes continued the reflection process later with famous artwork, classical music, and fine literature. She tried to select things that would have meaning for her students. Another change she made was to actually write in a journal herself at the same time her students did which gave it the extra emphasis of importance she was looking for. Anna would also admit when she thought that what she wrote was not very good. This gave the students permission to write even though it might not be their best work. Her truism was “if you can say it with your mouth, you can write it with a pencil.”